Why It Matters: Maryland’s migratory game bird management plays a vital role in the success of many species throughout the Atlantic flyway. The Migratory Game Bird Advisory Committee is tasked with advising the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on issues related to migratory game birds in Maryland, such as providing input on issues that affect sportsmen and women as well as conservation efforts and projects. Decisions made by Maryland’s DNR make an impact on the entire flyway, making this Advisory Committee of great importance to the health and welfare of migratory game bird species.
Highlights:
- The Maryland Migratory Game Bird Advisory Committee (MGBAC) is a nine-member Committee, appointed by the Governor, that advises the DNR on issues related to migratory game birds in the state.
- The Committee’s role includes providing input on expenditures from the migratory game bird stamp fund, policy, regulations, legislation, and habitat conservation projects. The Committee, which includes individuals with practical knowledge of migratory game birds, provides recommendations to the Wildlife and Heritage Service on annual regulations and other management issues.
- In November of 2025, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation’s (CSF) Assistant Manager, Mid-Atlantic States, a generational Marylander and longtime waterfowler, Kaleigh Leager, was appointed by Maryland Governor Wes Moore to the Migratory Game Bird Advisory Committee.
Maryland is home to many generational migratory game bird hunters due to the state’s target rich environment along the Chesapeake Bay, its tributaries, and its vast agricultural lands. It is no secret that migratory game bird populations have ebbed and flowed throughout the years and so have management decisions that have had a direct impact on these birds. The DNR is tasked with managing these species here in Maryland, but they also recognize that their management decisions impact the entire Atlantic Flyway.
The Atlantic Flyway is composed of the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia; the Canadian territory of Nunavut and provinces of Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec; plus the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands.
Kaleigh looks forward to continuing CSF’s longstanding relationship with the DNR and using science-based data to provide feedback and input on important issues impacting migratory game birds, sportsmen and women, and conservation in the “Old-Line State”.
